People make fun of U2's 1990-2000 best of, but this album is just bad. I never hear this collection talked about, so I would just like to list a few of my nerdy complaints and corrections.

First off, what is this collection supposed to be, exactly? I can't tell whether it's supposed to be a greatest hits or a collection of really good REM songs that not too many have been exposed to, or some poor combination of the two. Ideally, a compilation is a collection of recognizable tunes by an artist to attract casual fans.

Strike one: there are two new songs here. This generally bothers me, but it's even worse when many great hits are omitted because of them.

Strike two: using All The Way To Reno, which never even made a dent commercially. Again, not a problem in and of itself, but when actual hits are omitted, it's WTF-worthy.

Strike three (and this will stir things up): using both Nightswimming and Electrolite, even though they're essentially the same song. Plus, it only charted at #96. Not exactly a smash single.

Now, on to the omissions. One song from Monster? One song from Out Of Time? Both songs from Up are ballads, which means it's incorrectly represented. I would propose the track listing look like this:

i have it and i enjoy listening to it at times when i just want to listen to some random REM songs

I have to admit though that i indeed have no idea what the aim was with this collection of songs

U218 on the other hand is pretty straightforward like that
like to listen to that one at times too

__________________“Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.”
~Frank Zappa

Originally posted by COBL_04 I have it. Haven't given it many burls though. What's the Frequency Kenneth annoys the absolute shit out of me.

What's The Frequency is one of REM's very best songs.

__________________"Mediocrity is never so dangerous as when it is dressed up as sincerity." - Søren Kierkegaard

Ian McCulloch the U2 fan:
"Who buys U2 records anyway? It's just music for plumbers and bricklayers. Bono, what a slob. You'd think with all that climbing about he does, he'd look real fit and that. But he's real fat, y'know. Reminds me of a soddin' mountain goat."
"And as for Bono, he needs a colostomy bag for his mouth."

New songs don't belong in any Greatest Hits or Best Of compilation! How can the song be a great hit if it's brand spankin new??? Is this so hard to comprehend? It's nothing but a sales tactic to tempt casual fans as well as hardcore fans to spend their money yet again!

I think Monster as a whole is a pretty underappreciated REM album. I think it's far better than anything they've done on their last few albums. I feel like New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the last very good REM album.

Trying to lump that much of REM's history together onto one compilation isn't a good idea. It would be like trying to put songs from Rattle and Hum on the same compilation as...oh wait, there's U218. But since most of us think that was a bad idea, too, I guess maybe it supports my point.

Of the songs on it, really only The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite sticks out to me as glaringly wrong. And if you're only going to include one pre-1990 song, why not just make it 1990-2003?

It's an OK compilation, but there's really no way you can condense R.E.M.'s catalogs into two best ofs, many of their best tracks obviously haven't been heard of by 99% of the population, but even their hits would be hard to put together.

There's no discussion about this compilation. I find it great that they have reminded songs like E bow the letter, bang and blame, currencies or kenneth. Good songs, they made a fine list. And it's also good because it's a not predictable one

Originally posted by babyman There's no discussion about this compilation. I find it great that they have reminded songs like E bow the letter, bang and blame, currencies or kenneth. Good songs, they made a fine list. And it's also good because it's a not predictable one